Now in its third year at The Institute, the province-wide program offers immersive work experiences for people living with disabilities
SOURCE: The Institute
June 13, 2025
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (The Institute) recently welcomed two interns as part of the 2025 edition of DuoEmploi, a Quebec-wide initiative promoting workplace inclusion for people living with disabilities. This marks the third consecutive year The Institute has participated in the program.
For one day, interns Tasnim and Chloé* stepped into the roles of research assistant and administrative assistant, respectively, as they joined staff at The Institute to explore careers in health research and administration. The internships were coordinated by Diego Herrera, PhD, EDI Specialist and Aurore Palanque, MSc, EDI Advisor at The Institute.
Both the Centre for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) and the Brain Repair and Integrative Neuroscience (BRaIN) Program hosted interns as part of the program. At CORE, they were guided by Katya Loban and her team (Kim Allan, Sofia Bamboulas, and Susan Hill). At BRaIN, the internship was coordinated by Alexandra Kindrat, PhD, program manager and Alexandre Reynaud, PhD, scientist, with collaboration from Nicole Dranitsaris and Ingrid Inema.
Their day included hands-on activities such as drafting a payment requisition, contributing to the layout of a newsletter, analyzing data collection strategies, and learning about ongoing neuroscience research. They also attended the BRaIN Program Career Panel and met with team leaders to discuss potential career paths in research settings.
Over lunch, the interns connected with members of the EDI Advisory Committee's Accessibility Affinity Group, Jiahao Deng and Ceci Hes, as well as with BRaIN program trainees and BRaIN EDI Commitee members Megan Cott, Jenny Jiao and Airi Watanabe who shared their experiences and spoke about daily life at The Institute.
"DuoEmploi is one of the most rewarding initiatives we take part in each year," said Diego Herrera, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist at The Institute and one of the event organizers. "It's a great way for us to promote accessibility and reflect on how we can better adapt our work environment for people with disabilities. These short internships are intended to be the foundation of lasting relationships — in fact, following last year's program, one intern was hired into a research program at The Institute."
Aurore Palanque, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor added, "DuoEmploi is about creating genuine, meaningful connections and learning from one another. These one-day internships are short, but their impact is lasting — for both the interns and our teams. Spending the day with Tasnim was truly eye-opening and will definitely change the way I approach accessibility."
For the interns, the day provided both an introduction to health research, and a meaningful opportunity to connect with the people behind it.
"Relationships, human connection, and warmth are essential in a work environment—especially when you're dealing with mental health challenges—and that's exactly what I found here," said Chloé, who spent the day with the CORE team. "It's extraordinary to see such a high level of trust between the team and their manager."
According to Alexandre Reynaud, "It was a pleasure to host a DuoEmploi intern in our lab for the day. Tasnim had the chance to observe ongoing projects and gain a basic understanding of lab work in vision science. We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this important EDI initiative and to give exposure to vision research."
"Chloé shared her experience with Canva — she knew all kinds of tips and features we hadn't explored and offered really helpful advice," said Katya Loban, PhD, manager at CORE. "We appreciated her openness in discussing the need for workplace adaptations after a burnout. It gave us valuable insight into how we can better support people in similar situations."
Tasnim created a communication tool to highlight equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives led by members of The Institute, and she supported activities within the mentorship program for Indigenous and female trainees. "I would like to be recognized as one of the few South Asian and deaf people who have attended university and who work on research in human rights," she said. "This internship made me realize that I have unique ideas. I hope one day I can enter the workforce as a research assistant or pursue a career related to research."
Coordinated across Quebec by the ROSEPH (Regroupement des organismes spécialisés pour l'emploi des personnes handicapées), DuoEmploi aims to reduce barriers to employment by providing participants with direct, supportive experiences in real-world workplaces.
The Institute will also welcome a third intern on June 18, as part of a similar initiative, MentorHabiletés.
The Institute is proud to support this important initiative and remains committed to fostering a culture of accessibility, diversity, and inclusion.
* The participant's name has been changed to respect her privacy.
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